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The Annual Brian Ayers Memorial Art Exhibition is on Display at the Boone Mall from July 27 through Sept. 15

by Madison V. Fisler

July 25, 2013. For six weeks, the artwork of 29 exceptional young artists will be on display in the Boone Mall. 

The Brian Ayers Memorial Art Exhibition has provided an outlet for learning disabled artists to display their exceptional artistic talent to the world for 16 years.

ldchild-lo“Brian Ayers was a severely dyslexic but extremely talented young man who lived in Avery County,” said Meredith Golden, curator of the exhibition.

Ayers struggled with dyslexia in school, but found his home in the artistic world with art therapy. After his death in 1994 at the age of 19, the Brian Ayers Memorial Art Exhibition was started to provide somewhere for other learning disabled children with artistic talent to showcase their work and receive the recognition that they deserve.

The students’ artwork will be on display for six weeks in the Boone Mall sponsored by the H.L. Libby Corporation. This year’s entrants come from all around the country and one from Canada. 

The artists in the exhibition are eligible to win prizes for their pieces including $50 awards for artistic merit and $25 local artist awards. Artists may also put their artwork up for sale, with the artists receiving 100 percent of the profits. 

The exhibition is capped off with an artists’ reception on Sept. 15, the last day of the exhibition. 

“We hope that this exhibition is encouraging and inspiring to young artists,” Golden said. 

The exhibition is open to the public and will be on display until Sept. 15.